Weapon Progression in Act 1

[Uncle Mojo]

I'm about 15 hours into Act 1 and have gone with a sword and shield build (STR around 30 with the 1st Sword skill unlocked). Thus far, the best weapon I've found, or that has been available from vendors, is a shortsword. All the other swords do 5+ points less damage than it. However, even with this weapon, I still need to whack most beasts over 10 times to kill them. It feels like I'm using a feather for a weapon.

Am I missing something here or is this supposed to be what the best sword (so far) is capable of? Sure, I can one-shot beavers (or whatever they are) and low tier bloodflies, but anything bigger is still a pain to fight - not satisfying, but frustrating & taking too long. I'd think I should do better damage to e.g. the lower tier wolf-beasts or the red birds, but no. Still need to hit them 10+ times, even with bleeds on them and so on. Feels very underwhelming.

I played Gothic 1 and 2 back in the day and I don't remember the weapons being this under-powered in them. You were very strictly limited in what you could tackle early game, but if you managed to hit the critter, you usually were able to kill them in 4-5 hits. The bigger danger was that the critters did a ton of damage to you if you were hit, so you were easily killed before you got those 4-5 hits in if you weren't really careful. (It's been 15+ years since I played them, so I could be remembering it wrong of course.)

[Hobo_King_Carpenter]

I'd say it depends if you wanna rush your first act ( going for a faction straight away ) or take time to explore the map all over.

You technically can unlock some legendary weapons via a certain group before closing the first act, and there are a few hidden weapons in ruins and caves that , while below legendary levels, still pack a punch. Stuff like the Berserker sword which has something like 85 base damage.

[harakiri]

>Am I missing something here or is this supposed to be what the best sword (so far) is

yes you are missing a lot - i found a +95 axe at level 1 within the first hour of just running around and exploring

[Uncle Mojo]

RE: I found a +95 axe at level 1

That axe must have had a high proficiency requirement? Can't imagine it being usable from the first hour on.

I've explored nearly all of the early areas (incl. caves) from the start point to the tavern midway between Remnants and Nemeton, except some ruins guarded by harpies (way too powerful for my character at the moment) and haven't found anything remotely as powerful. Maybe I'm just unlucky to have missed them.

I've seen a few higher damage weapons, sure, but they have 50+ proficiency requirements. I was thinking about weapons someone at around level 10 can use (if they haven't pumped all their LP in stats).

Currently I'm at 30-ish Proficiency and the shortsword does a little under 30 damage. There's a rare blue sword in the Remnants camp for c. 550 coins, but it would only do 3 pts. more damage than the shortsword - too little for that much. That's the best sword I've seen so far,

[KillaKiwi]

The game doesn't expect you do to much in Act 1.
I noticed because after completing Act 1 you get much better equipment and, most important of all, functioning armor.
If it takes a very long time to kill enemies, the game simply expect you to fight them yet.

[gungadin22000]

I'm in the same boat as the OP. At level 12 or so, still wielding a shortsword and bronze shield. I've found a slightly better spear of blue quality as well as a rare axe, but that axe is a quest item and not intended for use. It is not very good either, so no immediately obvious super powerful weapons available at the get-go.

Going to do as many quests as possible before joining the Remnants, interested to see what weapon progression will be like here. If this is anything like Gothic, Nemeton will give you better armour whereas the Remnants will give you a better choice of weaponry.

[Nakaris]

Originally posted by Uncle Mojo:

I'm about 15 hours into Act 1 and have gone with a sword and shield build (STR around 30 with the 1st Sword skill unlocked). Thus far, the best weapon I've found, or that has been available from vendors, is a shortsword. All the other swords do 5+ points less damage than it. However, even with this weapon, I still need to whack most beasts over 10 times to kill them. It feels like I'm using a feather for a weapon.

Am I missing something here or is this supposed to be what the best sword (so far) is capable of? Sure, I can one-shot beavers (or whatever they are) and low tier bloodflies, but anything bigger is still a pain to fight - not satisfying, but frustrating & taking too long. I'd think I should do better damage to e.g. the lower tier wolf-beasts or the red birds, but no. Still need to hit them 10+ times, even with bleeds on them and so on. Feels very underwhelming.

I played Gothic 1 and 2 back in the day and I don't remember the weapons being this under-powered in them. You were very strictly limited in what you could tackle early game, but if you managed to hit the critter, you usually were able to kill them in 4-5 hits. The bigger danger was that the critters did a ton of damage to you if you were hit, so you were easily killed before you got those 4-5 hits in if you weren't really careful. (It's been 15+ years since I played them, so I could be remembering it wrong of course.)

Thats my char in act 1 this game is the first of all games i ever played that rewards your exploration and coriousity in such an extrem level.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355246989

Let me say it straight my char is a walking force of nature

[D#]

If you are good at dodging harpies you can find a very nice purple sword and axe early on. You will need to wear stat rings and pump up your stats to get your prowess high enough though.

[Biggus Dickus]

Originally posted by D#:

If you are good at dodging harpies you can find a very nice purple sword and axe early on. You will need to wear stat rings and pump up your stats to get your prowess high enough though.

Can you tell me where brother?

[D#]

There is a cave northeast of the woodsman, go through that dodging past some rock guys. There will then be some runes on the surface with 5 harpies, laying on the ground is an axe. So run in dodging the attacks, pick up the axe and run away. The sword is in a rune cellar ( i forget which one) Either north or east of Remnants). You will have to dodge or kill the harpies while pressing 4 secret buttons to get down to the sword.

[Biggus Dickus]

Originally posted by D#:

There is a cave northeast of the woodsman, go through that dodging past some rock guys. There will then be some runes on the surface with 5 harpies, laying on the ground is an axe. So run in dodging the attacks, pick up the axe and run away. The sword is in a rune cellar ( i forget which one) Either north or east of Remnants). You will have to dodge or kill the harpies while pressing 4 secret buttons to get down to the sword.

Thanks, i'll look for it

[Biggus Dickus]

Originally posted by D#:

There is a cave northeast of the woodsman, go through that dodging past some rock guys. There will then be some runes on the surface with 5 harpies, laying on the ground is an axe. So run in dodging the attacks, pick up the axe and run away. The sword is in a rune cellar ( i forget which one) Either north or east of Remnants). You will have to dodge or kill the harpies while pressing 4 secret buttons to get down to the sword.

I didn't find the place, can you please show me the location on the map?